The Wrestler

Have you ever seen a one trick pony in the field so happy and free?
If you've ever seen a one trick pony then you've seen me
Have you ever seen a one legged dog makin' his way down the street?
If you've ever seen a one legged dog then you've seen me

(Then you've seen me) I come and stand at every door
(Then you've seen me) I always leave with less than I had before
(Then you've seen me) bet I can make you smile when the blood it hits the floor
Tell me friend can you ask for anything more
Tell me can you ask for anything more

Have you ever seen a scarecrow filled with nothing but dust and weeds?
If you've ever seen that scarecrow then you've seen me
Have you ever seen a one armed man punchin' at nothing but the breeze?
If you've ever seen a one armed man then you've seen me

(Then you've seen me) I come and stand at every door
(Then you've seen me) I always leave with less than I had before
(Then you've seen me) bet I can make you smile when the blood it hits the floor
Tell me friend can you ask for anything more
Tell me can you ask for anything more

These things that have comforted me I drive away
This place that is my home I cannot stay
My only faith is in the broken bones and bruises I display

Have you ever seen a one legged man tryin' to dance his way free
If you've ever seen a one legged man then you've seen me

-------

If you haven't already, go see The Wrestler. Mickey Rourke is absolutely fantastic in it. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll...hmm...something else. Go see it anyway.

Amniosentience

i. The Escape

Asleep. Awake. I feel the clay.
The mud around my face: the choke.
The glue, the cloy. Holding. Asleep.
Awake, the mud still there. I’m held.
I see the black: it’s all around.
I try to look beyond the deep.
I dive. I delve. I reach. I search.
I see a bright, a hue, a light.
I grab and take a hold of this,
this new below, this new around.
Asleep. Awake. I search again.
Again I take my blinded hold.
I pull. I pull and now it’s here.
The light is in my face. I see.
Asleep. Awake. The dirt slides off.
I observe. I observe. The pink.

A tasty dish

Yeah, ok, third post today, but I just made a really nice meal:

Dice a chicken breast.

In a cup, mix:
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp runny honey
1 tbsp olive oil.

Mix the chicken into this, and leave it for about half an hour. I guess you could leave it overnight in the fridge for extra flavour!

Heat up a pan, and plop the mix in.
The chicken should take about 15 mins to cook through.
Add mange tout peas for extra cruchiness (and fun!).
Serve with rice.
Eat.
Burp.

How to pass exams

People are afraid of the unknown. Mankind has been afraid of the dark since the dawn of time. Normal people hate swimming in murky or deep water. People panic about exams.

I think one of the key features of exam worry is the fact that the exam is an unknown variable. You don't really know what to expect. So, the way to combat this? Be confident in yourself. Be confident in what you know, and feel prepared for what the exam could throw at you. Do practice questions. If something throws you in a mock question, revise it.

It's hard to learn something new a few days before an exam. So I find the best thing to do in the preceding days is to just casually read over what you should know, confirming in your head things that you're confident about. And again, if something comes up that you don't know, just try and quietly absorb it - don't stress!

I can't emphasise that enough. Don't stress :)

My vinyl want list

Ok, I've got a short list of the records I would love on vinyl and will now attempt to pursue.

Cross by Justice
Discovery by Daft Punk
blue album by Weezer
London Calling by the Clash
Legend by Bob Marley + the Wailers
Deloused in the Comatorium - the mars volta
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
Wincing the Night Away - The Shins

These are the core ones at the moment. Now, to the money-saving mobile!

Music. Again.

So, I just watched High Fidelity. Again. I love that film to bits, and reccommend anyone who likes music, comedy, John Cusack, Jack Black or pretentiousness to watch it. It really is great. For those of you who haven't seen it, the film revolves around the main character (Cusack) revisiting his past girlfriends to work out why his current relationship is failing. Cusack's character runs an indie record shop, and his life centres heavily on not only his encyclopaedic knowledge of music, but also his mahoooosive record collection. And this is where I go on a tangent.

This film, whenever I watch it, always makes me want to buy vinyl. And this time, I think I'll do it. I'll keep the CDs that I really really like, sell the rest, and start buying records. My rationale? CDs are essentially defunct for me, and a lot of other people. What happens when I buy a CD? I rip it to my computer, sync it to my iPod, then put the CD on a shelf. And when I want to listen to that CD on a speaker system, I play it through my computer, or plug it into speakers in the lounge that can connect with iPods. CDs are going to go very soon. In fact, so is all analogue media. You might as well just throw out all your clothes. Soon we'll all be wearing glasses that paints clothes onto other people's naked bodies so we don't have to see their nakedness, as opposed to the other way around, as it is currently.

You dig? You dig.

A little bit simpler

Staying out in the Borders is exactly what I needed. A break from the media.
Although I have the opportunity to use computers in the library etc, it is a breath of fresh air (sometimes literally) to be living in a room with no screen in it.
At home, I find that my computer is a constant distraction - and one I don't even enjoy that much. I find I'm a lot happier reading a book or writing than staring at a monitor, the latter giving me the occasional (loud) laugh, but aside from that, I think it boils down to this: internet addiction.

I don't think it's that bad that it's causing my life to deteriorate, but I'm sure a lot of you others could sympathise with me that it's so easy to check your emails, facebook, amazon etc. nowadays that there seems to be no reason not to.

So, aside from moving to a different house with no computer - can anyone reccommend any procrastination-beating tips? I try switching my computer off, but as soon as I need to look something up on google, I end up reading Wikipedia for half an hour!

Your input highly valued

I'm going through a big thing right now thinking about what specialities to go into etc. I know it's still years away, but it'd be great to choose something now so I can prepare for it!
But I can't decide what to do.
I want to:

- do a job where I see lots of people (so not lab work...)
- develop relationships with patients (so not A+E...)
- have a varied job (pretty much everything)
- have opportunity for clinical research
- do something that's just a lot of craic and banter.

So, any ideas? I'd quite like to go on an adventure. Like most days.

Seriously

There are too many razors. I went to Boots today to buy one and there are just far too many. Seriously, you guys. Stop making them. I spent about 2 minutes actually looking at the display - it was so big I had to tilt my head in different directions to see the whole thing. I think there's about 3 ladies' razors. That's it. I think. Don't ask me - I've never looked.

I went for the disposable ones - I always do. But somehow today I was thinking, "Maybe I'll branch out and get a Gillette Mach 4 Turbo Lightning Baby-Powered Faceshredder." But there were too many. I couldn't decide whether to go for one of them, or go for the Bics, the former probably being less wasteful than buying 20 bits of plastic you throw out each week.

Maybe I should do the Josiah thing and just not shave. Save the whales. Actually, no, screw whales. They're probably pretty tasty. Otherwise why would people eat them?

Yeah, you love it

I got something special for Christmas.
It's a sweater vest.

Call it what you like: sweater vest, tank top, woolen drape with no arms. Whatever. The point is, it's very very cool. And it's green. And recently, ever since I've been wearing it, I've noticed something interesting. I look out for other people wearing them.

In fact, this doesn't just cover sweater vests. It covers the whole genre of sweaters. Patterned Cosbyesque jumpers, eye-catching V-necks, or even the subtler, thinner models of today's generation. They're all good, and I respect their wearers even more now. Just today I was walking through the Meadows, and I saw a guy, he must have been in his 50s, strolling across the street with a great, verdant green sweater on. I had to contain myself against running up to him and shaking his hand, having an intellectual conversation about newspapers or, dare I even say it, hugging him.

Perhaps this is a manifestation of my heightened maturity ever since recognising the epitomy of style. Or perhaps this is a sociological demonstration of looking out for one's brothers. Whatever it is, I know what it means: look out Edinburgh, the sweater vest is here to stay.

New things

I encourage you to enjoy the picture, then read the poem. I think they work well together.


The Daughter

She was all that
the simple man kept
close to his heart.
For material goods
rot and are stolen.

Her soul will live.
Her soul will glide,
her soul will be a songstress
to his sinking visage.

He lays on his bed.
For breathing is hard.
Weeds lie in the fields.

She bends to his face
and kisses his eyes.
Her soft, warm lips
bring life to his body
for golden moments
then he glimpses her countenance,
and drifts from this plane.